Credits

A credit is a unit that reflects the value, level, or time requirements of an educational programme.

A credit represents the amount of time an average student is expected to spend on learning the material, completing tasks, answering questions, reading additional literature, browsing online resources, and so on. Both in-class time and self-study are considered.

At HSE, one credit equals 38 academic hours. One academic hour at HSE is 40 minutes, meaning one credit amounts to a little over 25 astronomical hours.

The volume of any element of a given curriculum is measured in credits. Information about the credit value of curriculum elements is displayed in curricula tables and HSE’s course catalogue.

For example, a term paper worth 5 credits would take an average student about five full days to complete (25*5=125 hours), assuming they spend the entire time working without breaks for sleep, meals, or other activities. Since this scenario is unrealistic, a student with a 5-credit term paper in their study plan can expect to spend around 25 days working on it if they dedicate at least five hours a day.

Credits are awarded when a student receives a passing grade for a course, term paper, project, or other curriculum element.

The standard workload for one academic year in a higher education programme is 60 credits.

A student will earn a Master’s degree by completing at least 120 credits. A Bachelor’s degree is awarded when a student accumulates 240 credits over the course of their studies.

The use of credit units to measure academic workload is standard in all developed education systems. The main purpose of introducing a universal measurement system is to give students more flexibility in designing their educational path. A uniform system allows for the comparison and recognition of a student’s academic achievements, even if they were completed at a different university or in another country.

In the HSE Diploma Supplement (in English), the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) is used. Our credits are comparable in terms of duration and scope (accounting for both in-class and self-study time) to those used in European universities.

HSE also recognises academic credits earned by students at foreign universities through academic mobility programmes and MOOCs from leading global universities.